Flooring and the like



Aug. 14, 1934 Q HAYDEN 1,970,139

FLOORING AND THE LIKE Filed June 2, 1953 Patented Aug. 14, 1934 PATENT Fries 1,970,139 FLOORING AND THE LIKE Arthur C. HaydenpNantucket, assignor to Augustus Hemenway and Abbott W. Lawrence,

both of Milton, Mass.

Application Junetz, 1933, Serial No. 674,02.7 5' Claims. (01. 20-6) This invention relates to flooring and the like, including the covering and finishing of floors, walls, ceilings, etc., and the primary object of the invention is the provision of improved; means for laying and holding such a covering in place.

Wood flooring is commonly laid by tongue and groove matching the cooperating edges of the and the pieces are laid by inserting the elements.

into the recesses and nailing them to the substructure, each element being adapted to receive and support two adjacent pieces at the adjacent edges thereof. The elements, which are entirely hidden by the covering, thus serve as a convenient means of laying the floor or the like and securely holding the same to the substructure and against movement in any direction.

Another feature of particular'importance incident to my invention resides in the ease with which the covering can be removed, without injury thereto, should such removal for repairs. or otherwise become necessary. Each securing element is held in place by a single nail and can be released merely by severing the nail beneath'the' element, thus permitting the piece held thereby to be freely removed without damage. The production of an improved flooring or the like, of the nature above and hereinafter defined, and the novel securing elements therefor, comprises a further object of my invention.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of flooring being laid in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged and fragmentary perspective view of one of the individual pieces or strips comprising the flooring;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the securing elements for the flooring;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through the flooring and one of the securing elements, on line 4 -4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a tile constructed in accordance with my invention and having securing elements inserted thereinto.

It will be understood that'my invention is applicable to thecovering of any surface with individual strips or pieces of wood or other suitable material and, for convenience, I have illustrated the invention as embodied in the laying of a floor. The rectangular strips 10 are recessed at 12 along the side edges thereof for the reception of securing elements 14. g The element 14 illustrated, which may be conveniently substantially made of sheet metal, is of thimble-like form and comprises a flat rim portion 16 and a conical shell or base portion 18 therein and projecting axially outward beyond one face of the rim. A nail receiving hole 20 may be provided through the base or conical portion, this hole preferably being disposed to one side of the central point of the base portion. The side edgesof the strip are preferably formed with independent recesses shaped to receive the elements 14 snugly thereinto, as illustrated in the drawing, it being understood, however, that the recessmay be formed independently or otherwise, asma'y seem desirable, and that the invention is not to be considered as limited in this respect excent as defined in the appended claims.

The recesses 12 are preferably located uni- 35 formly along thestrip and in excess of the numberactually to be used, as and for the purpose hereinafter described, each recess being of a depth substantially'to receive half of an element 14. Each recess has a relatively large inner portion 22, adapted to receive the rim 16, and a restricted channel' 2'4 open to the bottom face 25 of the strip and" adapted to receive the conical portion 18, the length of the channels 2 1 being equal to or slightly greater than the normal length of the conical portions 18, whereby to draw the strips tightly into place, as hereinafter described.

In laying the floor illustrated in Fig. 1, securing elements 14 are inserted into the recesses at uniformly spaced distances and nailed into place by nails 26 driven through the holes 20. The nail holes 20 being located to one side of the central axis of the elements, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, permits the nails to be conveniently driven thereinto from a point outside the edge of the strip. 106K The next piece is laid by inserting the exposed wing portions of the nailed elements into the reeesses 12 thereof and forcing the piece into contact with the secured piece. The nails draw the elements Substantially into contact with the subllll tion and a centrally disposed shell portion therein structures 28 and the proportional lengths of the portions 18 and channels 24 are such that in this position the rims 16 are so spaced from the substructure as to hold the engaged strips in firm and substantial contact therewith. Each row of elements engages within two adjacent strips, as will be understood, and the positions of the elements in the adjacent rows are preferably staggered, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby to hold the flooring down more uniformly. It will furthermore be noted that independent securing elements not only hold the flooring in substantial contact with the substructure but also hold the same against shifting movement ,in any direction, the top surface of the flooring being continuous and the securing elements being entirely hidden therebeneath. The provision of relatively close and uniformly spaced recesses 12 permits any necessary cutting of the strips to suitable matching lengths without any appreciable waste thereor and the use of a plurality of individual securing elements in relatively spaced relation is convenient, economical and permits the holding of the pieces at such spaced points as seems most desirable. It will also be apparent that a securing element of upright U-shape in cross section transversely of the juxtaposed side edges of the pieces held by the element, as shown in Fig. 4, is extremely simple and economical, efiectively serves ;the holding function and is convenient and easy The strips are held in place solely by the nails 26 and may be freely removed merely by cutting these nails. formed by inserting a chisel or like cutting instrument beneath the elements 14, thus freeing the strips without any possible danger of damage thereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A slab securing element having a fiat rim portion and a centrally disposed and conical shell portion therein projecting axially outward beyond one face of the rim and adapted to receive a holding nail through the bottom thereof.

2. A slab securing element having a rim porprojecting axially outward beyond one face of the rim and having a nail receiving hole through the This cutting operation is easily perbottom thereof, said hole being disposed to one side of the central point of said bottom.

3. A thimble-like slab securing element having a rim portion, a shell portion within and projecting outwardly beyond and normal to one face of the rim portion, a portion of the rim being adapted to engage within a slot in a slab or the like and the bottom of the shell portion having a relatively small nail receiving hole therethrough adapted to receive a nail for extending into an understructure to hold the slab to the understructure, and the remaining portion of the rim being adapted to engage within and hold an adjacent slab to the understructure.

4. Flooring or the like provided with cooperating and relatively spaced pairs of recesses along and within the cooperating edges of the adjacent pieces thereof, each pair of recesses embodying a slot portion between and parallel with the outer and inner faces of the pieces and a conical portion converging therefrom to the inner face of the pieces, a thimble-like securing element in each pair of recesses and having a rim portion fitting within said slot and a conical portion fitting snugly within said conical portion of the recess, said element having a nail receiving bottom wall at the smaller end of its conical portion, and means extending through said wall and into a substructure whereby to hold the pieces secured thereto.

5. Flooring or the like comprising independent pieces having their juxtaposed side edges directly in contact with each other at and beneath the top surface of the flooring and provided with preformed and cooperating slots within said side edges, a plurality of one piece floor securing elements disposed at and in relatively spaced relation along said edges intermediate the ends of the pieces, each element having a base portion of upright U-shape in cross section transversely of said side edges, a holding nail extending through the base portion and into a substructure, and outwardly and oppositely disposed wing portions at opposite sides of the base portion, said wing portions being connected to the top end of the base portion and fitting and engaging within the slots of said pieces, and the length of each element longitudinally of said pieces being shorter than the distance between adjacent elements.

6. The flooring defined in claim 5, wherein said holding nail extends through a hole in the base portion of its floor securing element and the head of the nail secures the element by engaging it at said hole and wherein the hole is located to one side of the edge line of the adjacent pieces held 

